IO-Link stands as a pivotal, modern technology increasingly recognized for its role in facilitating data transfer at the lower field communication level. This technology is particularly invaluable when integrating sensors or actuators directly into a PLC or a monitoring system at the machine level. IO-Link emerges as a prime choice, offering an array of sophisticated features not only beneficial for automation engineers but also for IT departments. Over recent years, it has substantially gained ground in the market, boasting more than 5000 distinct devices utilizing IO-Link as a transmission standard.
Having delved into IO-Link since its early stages at a professional level, I've garnered extensive experience across various projects. During this time, I've observed a notable absence—a lack of an open-source library for interacting with IO-Link devices. This gap felt incongruent with the essence of IO-Link being an open standard. Moreover, the intricacies of decoding bits and bytes often remained beyond the typical scope. To address these concerns, I initiated the development of IOLink.NET a year ago.
IOLink.NET stands as a modular and open library specifically designed to interface with data and devices within the IO-Link ecosystem, constructed using C# .NET. Presently, the library supports the reading and conversion of parameter and process data into human-readable datasets. Although the library is a work in progress, its functionality may already prove beneficial for ongoing projects. Additionally, I warmly welcome feedback and pull requests to further enhance its capabilities.
Check out the repository on github.